Knitting update: my ripple shawl

As of today, it's just about 15-20% done. I'm still deciding on how long I want it to be... i might make it 72-inches long... so I can engulf myself in it, like some blanket.

I combined two strands of tencel yarn, "olive green" and "golden yellow"... using US Size 6 circulars, 24-inches. At left is a horizontal shot of the shawl's rippled texture. I really wanted to use ripple stitch precisely to give my shawl a nice, wavy texture. I enjoy this stitch. It's a 10-row pattern that has yet to bore me.

Here's a pic of the two cones of tencel yarn I'm using up for this shawl. I hope I have enough! The cones approximately weigh half-pound each. Because tencel yarn is naturally shiny, yes, the yarns do gleam nicely in the pic... but not as brightly when knit together. I'm also planning to make more Ripple Shawls in other colors, such as brown-red and orange-peach.

Here's a close-up of the horizontal texture of the ripple stitch. It was kinda hard to make it show up in pics, I had to hold the shawl in an almost vertical slant just for the camera to get the shadows, for contrast. Professional photog I ain't:



Vertical pics of the shawl will show how the ripple stitch becomes a zig-zag stitch! And this is mostly how it'll look when the shawl's finally done, according to how I'll be wearing this shawl. I'm aiming to finish this shawl in time for my birthday this year... a gift for me, from me!


I changed the camera settings to see how the shawl would look under different lighting. Unfortunately I can't recall is this shot was done under "automatic" or "fluorescent" setting. I like how it shows the zig-zag effect of the ripple stitch, vertically:

Knitting again for family

Having done about half a dozen woolen hats for charity, I cleaned up my knitting workstation and realized I didn't have enough hats to send to the US for the holidays! Technically, I do... I've got about 15 hats, in acrylic... but not in the favorite colors of my intended recipients.

So I'm wrapping up my charity knitting to focus on family this time... this month is good enough, giving me time to do a scarf or two along with about 3-4 more hats...I have siblings on both sides of the Coast, and for sure some of them will be going through a snowy winter there... brrr...i'm still deciding if I should send my older sis woolen hats, as she may not like them since they're not machine-washable.

Then I want to try knitting berets, using tencel... I think they would be one way to differentiate what I'm making, for sale, compared to the machine-knitted hats I saw recently being sold in some stall somewhere... stockinette mostly... some hats were crocheted, but in garish colors. I need to differentiate my stuff by making them stylish and pretty. Not everyday pang-masa. Maybe I should just get orders for specific colors and designs...

I've soon take pics of my woolen hats... need to weave in ends first :-) besides, my energy is rather strange lately... there's the sense of going on a slowdown, preparing for a revving up...

I've been re-thinking my entire knitting wish list... need to hold off getting more tencel yarn as I do have enough to last me for years... well, considering my knitting pace, yeah, for years... I'd rather de-stash these days, that's why I'm using up my woolen yarn which has been around for a few years, ever since I started knitting. My goal would be to use up ALL my woolen yarn first, then ALL my tencel...